Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Strength of 8-bit

When Renesas was formed in 2003, they took Mitsubishi's successful low-power M16C 16-bit core, added Hitachi's sophisticated peripherals, and created a modern microcontroller that is easy to learn. Targeted towards efficient, low cost applications, this is now one of the most popular 8/16-bit microcontrollers available. This 8-bit Flash microcontroller family is the Renesas R8C.

FEATURES OF THE RENESAS R8C 8-BIT MICROCONTROLLER INCLUDE :
  • Optimized 20MHz R8C CISC Core
  • 8-bit internal data paths with a 16-bit
  • ALUCore data registers configurable as 8-bit, 16-bit, or 32-bit
  • CPU Address Registers configuration: 16-bit or 32-bit configuration
  • Dual data registers for fast context switching - see animation -->
  • Hardware Multiplier performs a 16x16 multiply in 5 cycles
  • Sub 1µA standby mode
  • Entire Flash array is byte-writable
  • Single-Cycle Memory Access
  • Data Transfer Controller (similar to a DMA) provides high-speed data transfer with no CPU intervention
  • Data types: -> Signed or unsigned integer (8-bit) -> Signed or unsigned word (16-bit) -> Signed or unsigned long word (32-bit) -> Packed decimal
  • Vectored interrupts with seven levels of priority
  • One wire on-chip debug with trace, and break on data and address
  • Automotive Grade available
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